what's...that... on your head? can curlers! tomato basil, potato with bacon... we've got a lot of empty cans. [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. it's time now to "clear the air." and there are two stories we haven't yet mentioned on today's broadcast. the first concerns the news that a monkey, whose very dna is close to the political animals in washington, has been sent into outer space by the iranian government. of course, monkeys are heralded as intelligent and our closest an sesors and while they can often be found in the middle of a traveling circus, their real habitat is actually in the wild. one publication describes a monkey's characteristics in the following way. they are self-centered, mice chiefous, superficial, egoistic, conce conceited, restless, careless, overindulgent, and shallow. the other story we wanted to mention is that john mccain's

vice presidential pick of four years ago, sarah palin, has also been sent into the wilderness after fox news failed to reknew her contract. for the sake of clarity, these stories are not connected in any way whatsoever. thanks so much for watching. chris matthews and "hardball" is next. tea for two. let's play "hardball." ♪ good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. let me start tonight with this, barack and hillary, good-bye or hello? was last night's dual appearance on 60 minutes a fond good-bye or a statement? was it the president's way of saying i know which way the wind is blowing? was it barack obama saying i want a democrat to replace me? hillary clinton is the best bet to do it, i'm ready for this to happen? it's powerful stuff any way you listen to it. i think secretary clinton will

run for president. i don't see how she can walk away from it. she's the one woman right now in the picture who could win the president next time. not only that, i think she's the favorite of either gender and either party to win the presidency why 2016. how does she tell the women of this country, all her backers across the country, that she doesn't want to run? this is the big story in politics right now. it will be until she announces she's running. it's the story of suspension only because it's about when she signals her move, not whether. eugene mccarthy once told me it's easier to run for president than to stop. once someone gets out there, puts their very being on the platform for the presidency, it doesn't go away. it stays with you. and secretary hillary clinton's case, she carry was her not just her first name, but her husband's. he clearly wants her to run, and that means he will lobby her like mad. i don't know of a more persuasive person in the kun and i can only assume he holds special influence with his wife. anyway, i think the real decision will be made by hillary rodham clinton herself. i believe she made that decision back at wellesley when she was a

super student leader before she met william jefferson clinton and that decision i believe holds. get ready for a real doozy next time around. it's all right starting. exciting politics in in krung century has only begun. i'm joined by "the huffington post's" howard fineman and on her way to greatness, joy reid. >> she's there. >> aren't you the smart gentleman. >> appreciate it. >> let's watch this right now. looks like the president boosted this interview. they wanted it. 60 minutes prefaced their key question by saying it was his understanding that the joint interview wassed president's idea. he asked the question on everyone's mind, why. let's listen to steve and then the president. >> well, the main thing is i just wanted to have a chance to publicly say thank you because i think hillary will go down as one of the finest secretary of states we've had. i want the country to appreciate

just what an extraordinary role she's played during the course of my administration and a lot of the successes we've had internationally have been because of her hard work. >> there's no political tea leaves to be read here? >> we don't have any tea. we've got some water here, the best i can tell. >> joy, that was a fairly lame response. we don't have any tea here by the sgecretary of state. this is the biggest set of jobs, first lady, united states of new york, secretary of state, the great he is appointed position on the planet. she's given it up, as he said last night, very importantly i thought, i would like you to stay. it was her decision to walk after four years. he could have stayed for eight or at least a lot more than she stayed. what does it mean to you -- i don't think that was a gold watch ceremony last night. i think it was a portent, a statement. >> i agree. i think it was an attempt by the president to bestow a little favor on hillary clinton. look, joe biden, the vice president, who a lot of people also believe really wants to run, i believe he wants to run, and i think he's been sending a lot of signals out there that he's very much interested in

getting excited. he's gotten a lot ever big assignments and gotten a lot of favor from the president of the united states. i think this was an attempt to even the flaying field. the job she ended up taking was a lot higher profile in the end than vice president which a lot of hillary land really wanted him to make her his running mate and he didn't. he gave her a higher profile position and now he's given her a huge boost toward 2016. >> well, my question to you, since you raised it, i always like to request the question you raise, joy, will joe biden quit if she runs? will he pull out of the race if he's in the race for a year or two, will he pull out if she says i'm going? >> i think the game between biden and hillary has been this. i don't think they would primary each other but i think each of them has been try og to put faths on the ground -- >> but will he pull out if she comes in? >> i think if she makes a strong manufacture to run, i think biden would back down because i think the president is going to have to have a conversation with one of these two and say i got to back one of you, i can't back you both and i'm not going to be

neutral. the president really wants his legacy to be another democratic president. >> you answered my question well. howard, can you answer it? if you don't know, you don't know. we lived through mccarthy/kennedy, bobby kennedy, gene mccarthy. that was terrible for the democratic party. two great candidates forced to run against each other because bobby got in late. >> first of all, i think part of this was about the next four years of president obama. it's not just about -- >> how does he need hillary? because he didn't put women in top positions? >> hillary is a major figure in the democratic party, was a major figure before he ever came on the scene. her husband, bill clinton, is still a major figure in the party even though that galls barack obama, and it wouldn't do to have this other royal family in the democratic tent out there undermining obama's candidacy or -- excuse me, obama's presidency in any way. this was a goodwill gesture on the way out of the door. >> to keep her on base. >> could tep her close,

absolutely. keep your enemies close and your friends closer. >> let me ask you back the question i put to joy and she asked and answered. will joe biden bow out if it's clear hillary is running? >> i think so. and i think so because hillary has a much deeper, broader base in the party. i know joe biden well, i have covered him for a long time. he's nothing if not a political realist. if he assesses the situation a couple years down the road and sees that the clinton machine is still out there, and by the way, hillary took the twol clinton man to the state department. that was hillary land over there, not obama land. >> i understand that completely. >> if that's still going on, i think joe biden will look at it and say i'm not sure i have the organization to do it, and also he might not want to call the president out on it and take the gamble with the president because i'm not sure he would necessarily get the answer that he'd want to hear. >> steve kroft tried to get at the political meaning of the interview. this is rare. usually in our business if you

know joy and howard, if you get an interview of this incredible quality, the president and secretary of state, the two most important people with bill clinton in the democratic party, you don't ask why you got it. but here he is apparently again trying to figure out why the two showed up together. here he is, steve kroft. >> i have to ask you, what's the date of expiration on this endorsement? >> oh, steve, i know -- >> i have to ask that question. come on. you're sitting here together. everybody in town is talking about it already. and this is taking place. >> you know, steve, i got to tell you, you guys in the press are incorrigible and it was literally inaugurated four days ago. >> right. >> and you're talking about elections four years from now. >> yeah, and i am, as you know, steve, i am still secretary of state so i am out of politics an i'm forbidden from even hearing these questions. >> as steve martin would tay mussily say, excuse me. they asked to come on "60

minutes." they like the press coverage they got today and last night. they love the fact we're talking about it. it seems to me for him to mock the very message when they are the message is a little weird on the part of the president. >> please, steve. did you see the body language on hillary. that's a woman who knows the presidency is basically hers for the taking if she wants it. who could stop her? she knows it. she's as relaxed as i have ever seen her. the best thing to do is step back, get out of this job, and spend the next three years preparing herself to run for president if she wants it. >> was this a move -- so many things in politics follow other things that wouldn't have happened if they didn't have that thing before them. do you think this was to give her a really nice sendoff after the rather unpleasant experience with ron johnson and rand paul and those hearings this week? >> there are a couple things. first of all, it is true that hillary's last sort of public performance in an official capacity was defending herself on the hill well, but under attack. >> on benghazi.

>> on benghazi. that's number one. i think the president and hillary have a mutual interest in having benghazi go away. and go away with a nice ribbon tied around it. that's number one. another thing was something you mentioned to me earlier, which is that the president has gotten a lot of criticism lately for not having picked a lot of new nominees who aren't white males. >> yeah. >> and to the remind people that one of the most important picks in his first term was a woman and not just any woman, but hillary rodham clinton, i think was a big deal. he was kind of reminding everybody, especially reminding women, especially hillary supporters, reminding activists, reminding feminists, look who is sitting next to me. i made this person secretary of state. has the additional benefit of editing bill clinton completely out of the picture. >> let me -- >> that's the real tension here. the real tension is bill clinton and barack obama. it's like the big chill turned into the deep freeze. >> okay. hold that thought because your idea of putting clinton aside

which is unimaginable. >> at least for a few minutes. >> he was on tv when george w. bill was speaking at andrews on a separate screen. let me ask you because i thought of this and howard did give me credit for it in the green room. >> where all the important work is done. >> he put the secretary of state on television with him as an equal, a peer. they talked about each other being partners almost. was it ameliorated, softened, the lack of any woman of the top positions the president has named for the second term and it did shut everybody up in a very nice way. it's smart, cosmetic politics i thought. your thoughts, joy. >> definitely. it puts her in the buddy act. you have seen a lot of him and joe biden together. him and his new chief of act. there's a buddy act he's got going on with all these guys. one of the things -- >> boy/girl buddy act. that's new. >> if you think about it, one of the pairings you haven't seen a lot of over the past four years is barack obama and hillary clinton next to each other, together. i think it's important not just for the cosmetics because of the cabinet picks but because you

have to at some point mesh hillary land and obama world. they're two very different camps. >> what happens -- does 40 or 50 or whatever number of people working in the state department whose jobs will cease to exist the day she leaves because they're owl appointments by her, what will they all do for a living while she decides whether she's running or not? >> well, i think a lot of them will become the sort of staff on the ground that's in the hillary clinton campaign in waiting. a lot of them will become policy advisers. i'm sure some will remain and you will see some people that will stay on because it's also a goodwill gesture from kerry land which also doesn't have a huge deep base. >> i agree with joy. i think john kerry is going to do hillary clinton a favor of keeping those people around. >> some. >> at least for a while. >> who knows. i don't know. >> at least for a decent serval. >> it's a fascinating discussion. we love it because as long as hillary is in the news, the news is exciting. i think hillary clinton is going to run for president and i think joy agrees with me. i think howard probably agrees to me but keeping his powder

dry. he's just smiling now. i don't see why anybody walks away from the presidency. then again i don't think we can predict the future. >> i think it's about obama managing the next few years on his own. he wants to keep her in view and on a friendly basis. >> keep your enemies in front of you even if it's not an enemy. either it was a great actor performance or something really important. probably a combination. thank you, howard, my friend who shares in the skepticism which makes this a beautiful business. joy reid, you're great. i'm known for saying that, you're great. op wednesday hillary clinton is andrea mitchell's guest. 1:00 p.m. eastern on wednesday on this network msnbc. coming up, deal or no deal? a bipartisan group of senators has reached agreement on an immigration reform bill. wow. it could create a pathway for illegal immigrants to become citizens. it sounds great will republicans vote for it? will it have teeth? will it work when so many past

efforts at immigration policy have filed? also, president obama has said he hoped his re-election would break the republican fever of endless obstructions, but even he admits that it hasn't happened yet. and now we have paul ryan saying the president is ignoring the country's problems in order to focus on the strategy. paul ryan you're the biggest disappointment right, left, or center this country. sarah palin lost her biggest megaphone when fox news dropped her the other day. her contract is gone. no thanks to keep her on the payroll. a lot of republicans say the gop has to stop being the stupid party. maybe getting rid of that is part of it. who knows. maybe cnn will pick her up. lef it to our friends on the right to find new conspiracies. first they question whether hillary clinton had a concussion. new they want to know whether he was pushed. sickos. you're watching "hardball," the place for politics. to the best vacation spot on earth. (all) the gulf! it doesn't matter which of our great states folks visit. mississippi, alabama, louisiana or florida,

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welcome back to "hardball." a group of eight senators, four democrats, four republicans, unveiled today what they say is a major break through in the immigration debate. the plan would offer a path to citizenship for the millions of people, about 12 million of them, here illegally. it also promises to put some teeth into enforcement. chuck schumer of morning and john mccain of arizona were two of the senators. here is what they said today. >> other bipartisan groups of senators have stood in the same spot before trumpeting similar proposals, but we believe this

will be the year congress finally gets it done. the politics on this issue have been turned upside down. for the first time ever, there's more political risk in opposing immigration reform than in supporting it. >> what's going on now is unacceptable. in real what's been created is a de facto amnesty. we have been too content for too long to allow individuals to mow our lawn, serve our food, clean our homes, and even watch our children while not affording them any of the benefits that make our country so great. >> here is what the plan includes. the creation of what the sthors call a tough but fair path to stip. strengthening border security with new tools. establishing an effective employment vir fication system to prevent employers from hiring illegal workers.

most will be given a provisional status. they would have to go to the back of the line to get their green card. will it work? and will republicans in the house be willing to go along with the plan? linda sanchez is a democratic congresswoman from california. stephanie cut ser the former deputy campaign manager for president obama's re-election. you know, congresswoman, as you know, like most americans i have always thought it idiotic on the part of the republicans to even talk about sending home over 10 million people who have been living here in this country for years. it's not going to ever happen. it would be a hideous thing to watch it in effect, people being ripped from their families. but i believe no true reform is ever going to work nor should it be approved that doesn't have enforcement behind it. unless that stops the other thing isn't going to be effective either. do you think this bill has both teeth and a good thing for the people living here both? >> well, it's important to

remember that what the thinking of eight unveiled is sort of an outline. it's actually not a written bill yet. so there are details that still need to be worked out, but the very fact that there is agreement and the very fact that it's a bipartisan effort and the very fact that republican senators are now supporting this earned pathway to citizenship or legalization is a tremendous, tremendous aboutface from where our immigration policy has been. >> look, i have been around long enough. we have done immigration before. passed a big comprehensive bipartisan bill with all the signatures and everything, everybody smiling, and it was a joke. it was called simpson ms. zoly. alan simpson still thinks he was screwed by it because it didn't have any teeth. it looked nice and got some people here legally but it never solved the problem of illegal immigration. just because it's bipartisan, do you believe that means it's going to work? >> i think that it's definitely

a sign of positive things to come. i mean, the devil is always in the details and, yes, enforcement is being tied in this bill to the pathway to citizenship, but you have to remember, too, there are a lot of moving parts to immigration, and you touch one piece of it, and you have to work and tinker with other parts of it, and i think ultimately with the stepped up enforcement, we have seen stepped up enforcement in the last four years, we have seen much tighter border security. we've seen fewer people coming into the country illegally, and i think if we can separate out those who want to come for legitimate reasons and those who come for criminal reasons and alleviate that pressure at the border, i think that we are well on our way to an effective immigration solution. >> stephanie, you're in politics and i cover politics. you know the politics of this. it needs to have both sides to it. if people can still come in the country tomorrow and there's no real work permit that's

effective like you have in every other country in the world, including mexico, where you have to have a right to work somewhere, you have to have permission to work in the country, we don't seem to have a way of doing it. we know our country is filled with people working in every kind of job, whether it's restaurants or working on people's houses or cutting their lawns or working at golf courses or hotels. we know it's all over the place. people here who have come in the country illegally. nobody i think has confidence -- i certainly don't -- that any bill passed by congress that we've seen before will stop that. you can bring everybody in here into our system, you can give them the opportunity for full citizenship, but if we have to do this again in 23 or 25 years ago, we've gotten nowhere. we have to be a country that's organized enough to say who comes in and who doesn't it seems to me. your thoughts? >> i agree with you. and i don't think there's anybody that would disagree with you. and the congresswoman is right, the devil is in the details, but it seems like what the senate -- the bipartisan group of senators put out today does have some real teeth in it. what the president has put out previously also has some real teeth in it. let's not forget that the

president has made historic increases in border security. that net migration with mexico right now is basically zero. and, you know, let's remember all the criticism that he got over the last couple of years on the increase in the number of deportations. so everybody understands that this bill has to have balance, that as the congresswoman said, once you start tinkering with one part, you have to look at everything altogether and it all works together. >> that sounds like -- people that believe in border protection, who believe you can stop somebody from coming in this country by higher towers or more drones or more people working there i think are right wingers or idiots. if you want to work and you're looking for a job, you're going to come to america, congresswoman. you're going to come in here and find a way in whether you have to take a boat, an airplane or swim or whatever you have to do, you're going to get here. my question is are we going to have a work permit situation that's truly in force so there will be no incentive to do that? because you can't work in the united states unless you're here legally. if we ever have a system like that, we won't be having this debate 20 or po years from now all over again. your thoughts. because we never stop talking about it.

>> well, if you let me get a word in edgewise, i will tell you -- >> you got all the time in the world to answer my question. do you have confidence this bill will work? >> i am confident because part of the discussion that's been going on with the house group that's been working on this issue as well as the senate group has been a stronger e verify system and now e verify has not been a perfect system. there are some problems with that, but strengthening that system will also allow employers to verify whether workers in this country are here legally or not and that's a key part of enforcement as well. and i think, you know, ten years down the line, 20 years down the line possibly because our birth rate has fallen dramatically, the birth rate in mexico has fallen dramatically, we're going to need workers from somewhere. so i think we'll have a much different immigration debate in the future as there is this demand for workers, and perhaps we won't view immigrants so hostilely when he actually need them here contributing to our

economy. so i'm confident that with this sort of renewed effort on both sides of the aisle to work out something that is doable, that will have the proper enforcement mechanisms but the proper pathway for people to come in out of the shadows and be fully participating members of our society, i'm very confident that we can get there. i really for the first time in the ten years that i have served in congress, really see this as a very real possibility. >> yeah. my concern is i agree with everything you said in terms of economics and social issues, fine. my concern is a government that cannot enforce its laws begins to crumble and our failure to have an honest, open, progressive immigration policy has been a disaster and it's not good for the future of our government that it can't do the job of enforcing its own borders which is essential to any country on this planet. stephanie, last thought. are we going to do this this time? >> well, chris, we have to try. i think there's a reason why we're talking about immigration reform, because the current system isn't working. i think we've done what we can

under existing authority in terms of increasing border security, increasing enforcement, holding employers accountable for these workers that are coming in and overstaying their visas. and, look, we have to try. we have to try comprehensive immigration reform to finally fix the problem. business community wants it, the labor community wants it, now a bipartisan group in the senate wants it. so we've got to try to get it done. >> okay. my answer is i don't believe any of those groups want it. i don't think business wants it -- >> you're such a pessimist this evening. >> they want cheap, free labor. democrats want support by not offending anybody in the latino community. nobody really wants to get this done. i think john mccain does because he'd like to get re-elected again. anyway, thank you u.s. congress won linda sanchez and steph ghi cutter. up next, how did joe biden celebrate the inaugural? not well. he got licked again on "saturday night live." he's getting laid by jason sa sudeik sudeikis. >> it's me your vp joe biden and i'm inviteding you to join me

this monday at the dover motor speedway for a little party i like to call the biden bash. as the saying goes, what happens in delaware -- >> much more of that next in the "sideshow." this is "hardball," the place for politics. [ male announcer ] edmunds.com says the all-new nissan altima is a better car than camry. to argue would be rude. nissan altima. with moving-object detection. lease now. just $199 per month. visit choosenissan.com. road and track called sentra an economy car

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turn it up! [ male announcer ] in a clinical study, over 80% of treated men had their t levels restored to normal. talk to your doctor about all your symptoms. get the blood tests. change your number. turn it up. androgel 1.62%. back to "hardball." now to the "sideshow." the "snl" factor i have been saying for a while one person who could really have an affect on the future of joe biden comes in the form of parody. his name is jason sudeikis. take this is weekend's biden bash. >> this past monday millions of americans watched as barack obama took the oath of office for a second term. this coming monday, the party really starts. >> it's me your vp joe biden and i'm inviting you all to join me this monday at the dover meet speedway in dover, delaware, for a little party i like to call

the biden bash. forget the pageant tri, forget the ib spir rational speeches, this one is about fun. we're going to have cotton candy, amateur dog show. be sure to join me for my kung fu exhibition. >> biden time,o w! almost got it. >> as the saying goes, what happens in delaware -- >> all proceeds go to biden 2016 presidential ex employertory committee. >> i don't think that will matter if biden launches a 2016 presidential campaign? remember what chevy chase on "snl" did to jerry ford. he killed him. here is what fox news found to be missing from the obama/clinton "60 minutes" interview. >> i think for some reason they just didn't dig into anything at all. >> 30 minutes, come on? >> i would like to know -- did

she pass out and hit her head, was she pushed? how did she hit her head and get a concussion? >> she said, quote, i still have some lingering effects from falling on my head. there was no follow-up. >> you're right. >> okay. she was injured. she had a concussion -- >> that's one of the questions i have. >> how did you fall on your head. >> she passed out i think was the story. >> the questions have morphed there. you just saw them from did she really have a concussion to what she pushed? finally move over teddy roosevelt or the mascot version of him pr not past few years we've watched the four presidential mascots of the washington nationals compete in a midgame race. teddy lost every game until this past october over 500 losses in row np now things are getting interesting. a new competitor was introduced over the weekend. >> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the newest racing president, william howard taft.

♪ >> taft was much bigger than that actually. but there you have it. the famously complicated history of roosevelt and taft means there's a lot to work with between roosevelt helping taft get elected back in 1908, then running against him just four years later. taft has his own tie to baseball. the first president to ever throw out the ceremonial first pitch, meaning he started a long history of good, bad, and awkward. the subject was even the topic of an nbc sports special back in the '60s. >> who is that man in the picture? >> you better not let your history teacher hear you ask that question. that's president taft, bobby. the first of our presidents to throw out the ball on opening day. since then they have all done it. that's woodrow wilson, that's franklin d. roosevelt. that's president eisenhower. you know, just before he came home from europe, he said the first thing he wanted to do was see a ball game, and he did.

and that's mr. kennedy, bobby. but i know that you knew that. he used to go to the ballpark and eat hotdogged and drink soda pop and this year president johnson will take his turn from pitching from that pitch. >> gee, joe, after all these things, i guess my book at home is right when they say baseball is a in accordance game. up next, president obama said he honed his re-election would break the republican fever of obstructionism, but even he admits that hasn't happened, and now paul ryan says the president wants to destroy the republican party. usual of whatting "hardball," the place for politics. as you a. would you take it? well, there is. [ male announcer ] it's called ocuvite. a vitamin totally dedicated to your eyes, from the eye care experts at bausch + lomb. as you age, eyes can lose vital nutrients. ocuvite helps replenish key eye nutrients. ocuvite has a unique formula not found in your multivitamin to help protect your eye health. now that's a pill worth taking.

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d i want when it comes to taste, to roll over my old 401(k) into a fidelity ira. man: okay, no problem. it's easy to get started; i can help you with the paperwork. um...this green line just appeared on my floor. yeah, that's fidelity helping you reach your financial goals. could you hold on a second? it's your money. roll over your old 401(k) into a fidelity ira and take control of your personal economy. this is going to be helpful. call or come in today. fidelity investments. turn here. i'm mandy drury with your cnbc market wrap. modest moves with the dow falling 14 points, the s&p is off by 2, and the nasdaq gained 4. yahoo! shares have been up as

much as 4% in after hours trade following a better than expected earnings report. revenue was in line with estimates. on the economic front, durable goods orders rose 4.6% last month, much more than forecast. however pending home sales slid by 4.3% in december. economists were expecting a gain. that is it from cnbc, first in business worldwide. now back over to "hardball." ♪ i decided to not comment between the election and the inauguration because i wanted to see what kind of presidents we were looking at here, what kind of path and trajectory he was putting his administration on, and all of the statements and all the comments lead me to believe that he's thinking more of a political conquest than political compromise. >> welcome back to "hardball." this weekend congressman paul ryan, you just saw him there,

kept up the republican claim of victimhood. that president obama is more interested in defeating them than he is in getting something done for the country. last week house speaker john boehner started that dumb beat saying president obama was out to annihilate the republican party and ryan amplified it when he spoke at a future of conservatism summit this saturday. >> the president will bait us. he will portray us as cruel and unyielding. we can't get rattled. we won't play the villain in his morality plays. we have to stay united. we have to show that if given the chance, we can govern. that we have better ideas. >> president obama has said he hoped this re-election would break that republican fever of total opposition but in an interview with the new republic interview, brand new magazine, he said obviously that hant happened yet. joining me is columnist cynthia tucker and "the washington post's" eugene robinson.

i want to start with gene up here. it seems to me they have this new sort of gee, whiz, we're getting beat up, but they were the party that for four years shut the door on a new president. he won the election -- >> and said, you know, our number one goal is to make him a one-term president and they said, no, no, no. they said no to measures they had proposed in the past, but as long as he proposed them, they said no. to turn around and then say, oh, he's hitting us, he's beating us up, it's kind of silly, and i don't know -- are they just trying to rally the troops -- >> wasn't this the macho party a couple weeks ago in they're now becoming the -- >> used to be. now they're victims. >> cynthia, what is the psychology to tell people who have been predatory towards the president that they're somehow now being bullied? what is in the psycho ward that tells them they will unite if we're all victims getting beat up? mitch mcconnell -- >> chris, psychiatry has a term for this. it's called projection.

projection is what the patient does when he is believing that other people are doing to him what he has done to other people, and that is exactly what republicans are doing. and it's not just john boehner and paul ryan. this is the narrative that's taken hold throughout all facets of the republican party. it's repeated ad nauseam on fox news. and you even hear it from some moderate conservative thinkers who ought to know better. obama is out to kill the wounded. now that republicans are down. he's not going to make any proposals that republicans might actually sign onto. instead, he's going to make them look bad on things like immigration. but it's interesting -- >> but that's not working, cynthia. >> -- supposed to be the party of personal responsibility. >> that narrative, gene, isn't working because quite clearly

there's a bipartisan plan on immigration as we see today. anytime boehner, the speaker of the house, who i don't dislike, would come out for a background check on guns, just push one measure, if he could get that through the house, he'd be a leader on the newtown, connecticut, horror. he could be the leader. it would force harry reid to do the same. he doesn't have to be a victim. >> i think dr. tucker's diagnosis was absolutely right. and i think, you know, this is the party's way of trying to deal with its own internal contradictions and issues. the republican party has issues, and the number one issue which they don't want to deal with is that most of the american people don't support their positions on the issues that are important. they don't agree with them on immigration. they don't agree with them on abortion. they don't agree with them on -- >> is this the ole avis commercial, cynthia, we try harder. we're not as big as hertz. we're the little guy that's overcome the other party. maybe they recognize they just

did a count and realize there aren't as many republicans as democrats. could that be it? here is the president on that subject in an interview with the new republic. it's a great new look at the mag zeb. the president was asked about establishing working relationships with republicans and he said, quote, one of the biggest factors in forging bipartisan legislation is going to be how the media shapes debates. if a republican member of congress is not punished on fox news or by rush limbaugh for working with a democrat on a bill of common interest, then you'll see more of them doing it. boy, the president is really putting up fox and rush there. he's saying these are the no men that scare these guys into doing nothing. >> well, it's kind of -- i don't know if you saw the harry potter movie but lord voldemort, you couldn't say the name, now he can say the name. he's just laying it out there. >> do you think rush still has the veto on a republican member? he can chase them into the bushes? >> he said he's going to try to

block immigration reform. only he can save us from immigration reform. so we'll see -- >> cynthia, i do believe that rush has more power than any individual member of congress. meaning if he attacks all of them i don't think he would beat them but if he says to somebody in georgia, your country, that guy has got to go, he's a bum, he's a sellout, those guys are petrified of rush doing that to them. >> and we're already seeing yet another republican who has been limbaughed and tea partied right out of the senate. saxby chambliss has decided he will not -- he will resign rather than face a challenge from a tea partier. and let me be very clear here. saxby chambliss, senator from georgia, is very conservative, but what was his sin? he actually worked with the gang of six to try to come up with a grand bargain to reduce the deficit. he wanted to actually compromise with democrats, and for the rush

limbaugh wing of the republican party, that is a big no no. so they have been gunning for saxby for about two years now, and he said never mind. >> i am so shocked at party politics some days. look, corker in tennessee ran a rotten -- i thought a racist campaign against gerald ford. and running the way saxby chambliss ran against mx clinton, a war hero, i guy who had been maimed in the war, was horrible and yet i give them forgiveness in both have ended up being people who tried to work as legitimate congress people and senators -- >> trite to get something done. >> they did try to get something done and i give them credit for the way they ended if not the way they started. in fact, corker is still in the business but i wish saxby chambliss well in his decision. coming up -- thank you, sign thea and eugene robbins. up next, fox news and sarah palin call it quits.

with a lot of republicans saying the gop has to stop being the stupid party, this can't hurt, getting rid of her, but we'll see. this is "hardball," the place for politics. did i say that? rtunity. you know how to mix business... with business. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle. and go. you can even take a full-size or above. and still pay the mid-size price. i could get used to this. [ male announcer ] yes, you could business pro. yes, you could. go national. go like a pro.

palin call it quits. virginia's plan to rig the electoral system and award electoral votes by congressional district looks to be dead in the water. republican governor bob mcdonnell and ken cuccinelli, the commonwealth's attorney general, have both come out against the republican plan which would have made it easier for republicans to win that battleground state.

that's good news for anyone who cares about fairness in elections and proves that not everyone is in the mickey mouse club in this issue. still, republicans in four other swing states, pennsylvania, ohio, wisconsin, and michigan are considering similar measures to rig the vote. we'll be right back. look what mommy is having. mommy's having a french fry. yes she is, yes she is. [ bop ] [ male announcer ] could've had a v8. 100% vegetable juice, with three of your daily vegetable servings in every little bottle. then i read an article about a study that looked at the long term health benefits of taking multivitamins. they used centrum silver for the study... so i guess my wife was right. [ male announcer ] centrum. always your most complete.

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meet the 5-passenger ford c-max hybrid. when you're carrying a lot of weight, c-max has a nice little trait, you see, c-max helps you load your freight, with its foot-activated lift gate. but that's not all you'll see, cause c-max also beats prius v, with better mpg. say hi to the all-new 47 combined mpg c-max hybrid. it's the end of an era in sorts. late friday, fox news announced it was parting ways with one of its star political pun dants, sarah palin. >> well, first off, nancy pelosi is a ding bat. she's a perfect spokesperson for

president obama's democrat party. with all due respect to the office of the presidency, when i hear barack obama speak at this point, especially when he lectures about ethics, feasibility, it's nauseating to me. that's a very scary thought because bara drrck obama is a socialist. he believes in redistributing wealth in confiscating hard-earned dollars. >> independent, patriotic americans who desire fiscal sanity are being called terrorists. if we were real domestic terrorists, president obama would be wanting to pal around with us, wouldn't he? >> "time magazine", consider their list of most influential people in the country and in the world, some who have made that list, yours truly. that ought to tell you something right there regarding the things that we should give time magazine and their list of people. >> i wouldn't want to join a

club that would accept me as a member. anyway, what she said there is that palin is out of step with the republican party as it attempts to rebrand itself. it could be that her extreme views just don't cut it anymore or it could be that she's just not box office anymore. anyway, laura ashburner and a contributor to the "daily beast." i thought that was an interesting gag reel. but that's her best. and i don't think you have to make fun of her like i sort of did coming out of the last segment. but the stupid party has to make some changes and maybe fox has to, too. why did she cut the must tard with fox is this. >> her star has fallen. she's not as relevant as she used to be. but, chris, put it in terms she can understand. she didn't rate. >> she's only on for like a minute at a time.

>> e >> you have minute-by-minute ratings. >> you know what i thauought, i thought she had something when she ranl for v.p. a lot of people, when she went out in that stage, it was anounszed. i know it's theatrical and there's nothing wrong with politics. bill clinton has it. some people didn't have it. but something faded. i think it was the way they used her on fox. that little booth she was in, it didn't show her dash, her excitemented, her pinosh in her booth. >> you know it's the ke nettics. >> sarah palin faded away here over a long period of time. you know fox would be interested in keeping her here. >> what about the charges she made. just, you know, you say i think it's a little more nuanced. i do think obama is the man of the center left. they call him a socialist. i think i'm where he is. but the idea offing with a

socialist that he wants the government to run all business. >> she said he was a socialist and she said that we were the lame stream media. those were her two points. and that was it. what did she think, what did she add to the conversation. now, that said, con essentialtive women love her. they love her. >> katie couric once asked her a pivotal question. what do you read? i do believe, no matter how original you are in the world, you have to read. you've got to know what the discussions are about. you've got to get into it. i'm not sure it's a problem being cut off. >> her stock and trade was being a bomb thrower. and the truth is, bomb throwers are a dime a dozen now. you have four or five of them in the house of representatives. they didn't really need that particular demographic represented there. so if they had her firing off of this, they could also listen to allen west or michelle bachmann or somebody else.

and i think it says a lot about the decline. >> they're fading, too. michelle bachmann has faded, too. >> i think economic times are better. the demagogue doesn't work as well when the stock market is at a five-year high. >> do you think tina faye brought her down a little bit? >> totally. just as you were talking about biden being talked about on "snl," it completely toppled her. >> i still think a couple of those clips were tina faye. >> just won another award, the sag, screen actor's guilt she won again. laura ashburn, thanks for join us. dana, when we return, let me finish -- what the republicans need to avoid being a perennial second place party. you're watching "hardball," the place for politics. [ man ] ring ring... progresso

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